Elon Musk Takes Center Stage on Saturday Night Live

Jason R. Sakurai
by Jason R. Sakurai

Billionaire Elon Musk will host “Saturday Night Live” on May 8th, the comedy series announced last week. Known for his controversial, biting remarks, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO apparently did not win over any fans among the cast. Cast members were not happy with Musk’s invitation. Social media comments indicated their displeasure.

The self-proclaimed techno king of Tesla, and imperator of Mars, Musk sets Twitter on fire. He clearly enjoyed his role as the Dogefather, a form of digital currency he supports in an SNL skit. Musk tweeted, “Let’s find out just how live Saturday Night Live is,” after the announcement he would be hosting SNL was made.

Tweeting this morning, Musk said, “Other companies spend money on advertising and manipulating public opinion. Tesla focuses on the product. I trust the people.”

Musk said, “We need to have a big permanently occupied base on the moon, and then we’ll build a city on Mars and become a spacefaring civilization. We don’t want to be one of those single planet species, we want to be a multi-planetary species.”

It deflects criticism when two people died in a Tesla although it was unknown if Autopilot was engaged. As noted, 30,000 gallons of water could not put out the battery fire.

Musk countered on April 17th through Tesla Owners Online and his Twitter account by posting Tesla’s Q1 2021 accident data. It said, ‘ In the 1st quarter, we registered one accident for every 4.19 million miles driven in which drivers had Autopilot engaged. For those driving without Autopilot but with our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 2.05 million miles driven. For those driving with Autopilot and without our active safety features, we registered one accident for every 978,000 miles driven. By comparison, NHTSA’s most recent data shows that in the United States there is an automobile crash every 484,000 miles.’

The debate rages on. Is Musk a genius, or is this simply the emperor’s new clothes?

[Images: Tesla]

Jason R. Sakurai
Jason R. Sakurai

With a father who owned a dealership, I literally grew up in the business. After college, I worked for GM, Nissan and Mazda, writing articles for automotive enthusiast magazines as a side gig. I discovered you could make a living selling ad space at Four Wheeler magazine, before I moved on to selling TV for the National Hot Rod Association. After that, I started Roadhouse, a marketing, advertising and PR firm dedicated to the automotive, outdoor/apparel, and entertainment industries. Through the years, I continued writing, shooting, and editing. It keep things interesting.

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  • Akear Akear on May 01, 2021

    Do you think Musk really cares what the C+ comic talent on SNL thinks?

    • Tonycd Tonycd on May 02, 2021

      akear, evidently Musk really does care what the C+ comic talent on SNL thinks, or he wouldn't be so eager to join it. Looks to me like what you're underestimating is the egomaniacal Musk's hunger for attention. There's a thing called Twitter. Take a look at it and you'll see what kind of psychopathic personality you're pumping up here.

  • Dantes_inferno Dantes_inferno on May 03, 2021

    Anyone who triggers the SNL crowd is OK in my book, despite creating a legion of Tesla cultists.

  • Jkross22 Our experience is that the idea of leasing/owning an EV is better than the experience of getting a closer look at them and coming away underwhelmed.
  • Ajla I never thought I'd advocate for an alphanumeric but "Junior" is a terrible name.
  • Arthur Dailey So pay moving costs, pay penalties or continue to pay for space in the RenCen, and purchase all new furniture and equipment. Rather than just consolidating in place and subleasing. Another brilliant business decision.
  • Jkross22 Why not just consolidate space and rent out to vendors at a reduced rate? Wouldn't this help with coordination and partnerships as well as letting go of unused space, turning it into a revenue generation opportunity as well as a PR win where GM could offer younger companies great space to develop ideas? Oh right, that might make more financial sense. Can't take the OLD GM out of GM.
  • Analoggrotto Funny, Han Solo calls Luke this in Empire Strikes Back.
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